The present invention relates generally to recovery of hydrocarbons in subterranean formations, and more particularly to a system and method for delivering treatment fluids to wells having multiple production zones.
In typical wellbore operations, various treatment fluids may be pumped into the well and eventually into the formation to restore or enhance the productivity of the well. For example, a non-reactive “fracturing fluid” or a “frac fluid” may be pumped into the wellbore to initiate and propagate fractures in the formation thus providing flow channels to facilitate movement of the hydrocarbons to the wellbore so that the hydrocarbons may be pumped from the well. In such fracturing operations, the fracturing fluid is hydraulically injected into a wellbore penetrating the subterranean formation and is forced against the formation strata by pressure. The formation strata is forced to crack and fracture, and a proppant is placed in the fracture by movement of a viscous-fluid containing proppant into the crack in the rock. The resulting fracture, with proppant in place, provides improved flow of the recoverable fluid (i.e., oil, gas or water) into the wellbore. In another example, a reactive stimulation fluid or “acid” may be injected into the formation. Acidizing treatment of the formation results in dissolving materials in the pore spaces of the formation to enhance production flow.
Currently, in wells with multiple production zones, it may be necessary to treat various formations in a multi-staged operation requiring many trips downhole. Each trip generally consists of isolating a single production zone and then delivering the treatment fluid to the isolated zone. Since several trips downhole are required to isolate and treat each zone, the complete operation may be very time consuming and expensive.
Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods to deliver treatment fluids to multiple zones of a well in a single trip downhole.